The Song of Igor’s Campaign, also translated Lay of Igor’s Campaign, Russian Slovo o polku Igoreve, masterpiece of Old Russian literature, an account of the unsuccessful campaign in 1185 of Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversky against the Polovtsy (Kipchak, or Cumans). As in the great French epic The Song of Roland, Igor’s heroic pride draws him into a combat in which the odds are too great for him. Though defeated, Igor escapes his captors and returns to his people. The tale was written anonymously (1185–87) and preserved in a single manuscript, which was discovered in 1795 by A.I. Musin-Pushkin, published in 1800, and lost during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812.

The tale is not easily classified; neither lyric nor epic, it is a blend of both, with a suggestion of the political pamphlet as well. It is the product of a writer familiar with oral poetry, chronicles, and historical narratives. It is distinguished principally by its modernity. The author’s worldview is secular; Christianity is incidental to events.

The Song alone of all Old Russian literature has become a national classic, one that is familiar to every educated Russian. An English translation of it by Vladimir Nabokov was published in 1960.

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1150 1202 prince of the Russian lands of Novgorod-Seversky (modern Novhorod-Siverskyy, Ukraine) after 1178 and of Chernigovsky (1198–1202; modern Chernihiv, Ukraine), who led an unsuccessful campaign against the Cumans (Polovtsy) in 1185.

...however, monks were producing original works (on Byzantine models), primarily hagiographies, historical chronicles, and homilies. At least one great secular work was produced as well: the epic The Song of Igor’s Campaign, which dates from the late 12th century and describes a failed military expedition against the neighbouring Polovtsy. Evidence also exists (primarily in the form of...

From a literary point of view, the best work of Old Russian literature is the Slovo o polku Igoreve (The Song of Igor’s Campaign), a sort of epic poem (in rhythmic prose, actually) dealing with Prince Igor’s raid against the Polovtsy (Kipchak), a people of the steppes, his capture, and his escape. Composed between 1185 and 1187, the Igor Tale, as it is generally known, was...